How to Get Published, or Great Book Proposals and Where They Come From

1. How to Get Published, or Great Book Proposals and Where They Come From Mila Steele Senior Commissioning Editor

2. Agenda: How do I get turn a PhD into a book? Part I • What’s been happening in publishing • What happened to monographs • What publishers want and how they are different Part II • What is a good PhD, a good book and a good proposal • Transforming your PhD • Finding a publisher

3. The publishing industry

4. Who are Publishers? • Trade (Random House, Penguin) • Textbook (McGraw-Hill, Pearson) • Commercial academic (SAGE, Routledge, Blackwell, Palgrave) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- • University presses (OUP, CUP, Duke) • Boutique (Peter Lang, Intellect, Polity, Ashgate, Paradigm) • Electronic (Ebury) • OA initiatives: Open Humanities Press, Open Book Publishers ---------------------------------------------------------------------- • Vanity publishers: VDM Verlag

5. Where does research get published?

6. So many kinds of books, so many kinds of readers, how many sales? • Monographs • ‘Big think’ books • ‘Shorts’ • Journalism • Trade books • Textbooks

7. New Directions: • New formats: Palgrave Pivots, Springer Shorts, SAGE Swifts • E-only OA monographs • Collections, subscriptions, searchability

8. What publishers want • Buyership: not just readership • Market knowledge: evidence of what works • Audience: know the reader’s needs • A business model: how to pay for it all • A publishing strategy: volume, curation, courses • Sustainability: change, but the right change, so we’re all here in two years

9. Where does a PhD fit in…

10. What makes a good PhD?

11. Introduction: in at the shallow end Imagines the reader Does not presume too much knowledge Evenly structured Easy to navigate Leaves the reader satisfied Not too long A pleasure to read What makes a good book?

12. PhD vs Books: PhD fulfills an academic requirement; Book fulfills a desire to speak broadly. PhD rehearses scholarship in the field; Book has absorbed that scholarship and transmits or teaches it. PhD suppresses an authorial voice; Book creates and sustains one. PhD stops; a book concludes. PhD is for an audience of 4; a book is for thousands around the world. PhD is assessed and archived; a book is sold.

13. Transforming your research • Stop thinking of it as your PhD • Start with a book proposal • Remember what the publisher wants... • Academic conventions no longer relevant • Be ready to re-write every line • Imagine what kind of book, not just ‘any’ book • Understand who is your new reader?

14. Transforming your research for student readers • Explain and illustrate • Teach through case studies • Doesn’t have to be dry and formulaic • Authoritative and engaging • Make the sophisticated clear and lucid • Relevant for a course • The author has had fun writing.

15. De-PhD-ing • It will be shorter: think 80,000 words • It may be re-written line by line: thinking of a new kind of reader • Drop the lit review and methodology • Ditch the footnotes • Lessen the empirical detail • Draw out international implications

16. Writing proposals that work…

17. Elements of the proposal A synopsis of the book and its argument/approach A rationale A common mistake! ‘I need to be totally original.’

18. Elements of the proposal The ‘edge’ Explain why a reader will buy your book and not another. Describe the USP’s (unique selling point).

19. Elements of the proposal An extended table of contents: • Chapter titles • Paragraph on coverage • Subheadings to map each chapter This is the part of the proposal I, peer review and the Editorial Board read first

20. Elements of the proposal The market It is ‘buyership’ not ‘readership’ that a publisher is really interested in Detail will never be wasted on this section.

21. ‘But you guys are the market experts, not me…’

22. Elements of the proposal Remember!A publisher is just as interested in your interpretation of the market and the competition as they are in the proposed contents of the book.

23. Elements of the proposal The competition • 3 – 4 books • Strengths and weaknesses • How your book will compare

24. A publisher won’t want another book on popular music…

25. ‘My book is unique. There is no competition.’

26. Do • Make it personal – address the editor by name • Write concisely – 6 – 7 pages • Show awareness of the market • Check out the publisher’s proposal guidelines • Give clear idea of the book’s structure • Mention if you blog, tweet, podcast, vodcast, teach...

27. Don’t • Write a 30 page proposal • Use clever puns or double entendres in the title • Assume a longer book is a smarter book • Send an entire manuscript

28. What publishers will do with your proposal and how they will judge it…

29. Editor’s review Immediate rejection by the editor This most likely means you have misjudged the match of the book idea to the publisher and its targeted markets

30. The review process It gets sent out for review Assessed for: • suitability of content for the intended market • market need for the book • suitability of writing style • intellectual merit

31. The review process • You will get to see the reviews and may be asked to revise your proposal in light of reviewers’ comments. • Your proposal may also get rejected at this point.

32. The editorial meeting It gets presented at the editorial board meeting Your editor presents a ‘pitch’ for your proposal to representatives of the publisher for evaluation and approval to issue a contract

33. The editorial meeting The pitch will include : • your proposal • the editor’s comments, sales estimates and market research • the reviews • a P&L

34. The editorial meeting A decision is made to: • Offer you contract now • Offer you a contract later following revisions • Decline the proposal

35. Choosing a publisher…

36. Choosing a publisher • Publisher’s reputation in subject area • Market experience and data • Colleague recommendation: • Expertise of editorial staff • Author support • Relationship with an editor • International marketing and distribution

37. Choosing a publisher • Books you read • Physical quality of publication • Size of publishing company • Location of publishing company • Conferences attended • Legitimacy: watch out for vanity publishers

38. What marketing counts Counts: • International marketing • Rich data – do they market to you? • Conferences Doesn’t count: • Launches (have your own) • Newspaper reviews • Conference inserts

39. Getting to know your future publisher • Think about your market • Don’t go in cold • Don’t tell publishers it will be one of a kind – even if it’s true (remember it’s no longer your PhD, it’s your book) • What else can you offer? • Career strategy beyond the book

40. Building a relationship with your publisher…

41. How do I find authors? • Recommendations • An incredibly lucid peer review • Journal citations • An introduction at a conference • Social media profile • A surprise proposal

42. How can you get involved? • Submit to journals • Special issue ideas • Send in book proposals • Say yes to reviewing proposals • Write reviews well! • Introduce yourself to an editor at a conference • Say yes to an editor coming to visit • Build your social media profile • Understand a little about publishing...